Lately I have had an itch for some new music but have not really had the itch scratched. For a while there I was big on Stanton Moore but that has sort of died down. I've been into jam jazz which is what Amazon calls the genre but not alot out there. In fact, I have just about everything recommended on Amazon.

How do you guys find new music? Sometimes I hear a few cuts, purchase the CD, and I am disappointed.

I find mine, either through Pandora or Zune, we enter a name or music/song we like and let the Gnome in Pandora, or the smart DJ in Zune pick the music. While we work if we hear something we like we write it down.....Works great for me.

All is well in Arizona. This summer turned out to be the 9th hottest on record. Honestly, I don't know how much longer I can live with the heat. The entire summer is shot because of it. Yes, we get 8 months of great weather but heat is too much. I've got some cousins that live in Austin that have invited me to move over there but I don't know if trading a dry heat for humid weather is that much better.

I always manage to pick up some good stuff attending audio fests ..... such as the HornFest and the DecFest. The upside to the music I discover at these functions is that I get to hear it on a decent system.

There have been many times I have picked up something that sounded great on the car radio and was mightily disappointed when playing it on the home system .....

While it is really a very mixed bag, but bands that allow recording of their performance will have tapers upload shows to The Live Music Archive (link below).Pick a band, and from their page do a search that includes 'SBD' (for soundboard recording). Some SBD's are quite well done and many offer an embedded player to listen to VBR-MP3 and also lossless versions (FLAC/SHN) of the tracks for download.

Have you gotten into any of the musicians that appear on those SM discs? Guys like Skerik, Charlie Hunter, and Karl Denson? Skerik has some pretty far out stuff, cave-man jazz I like to call it (the Critters Buggin stuff particularly). Charlie Hunter is typically awesome. If you don't have the original Garage a Trois disk Mysteryfunk, it's a keeper. Denson, or any of the Greyboy Allstar members, can really lay down irresistable dance grooves.

Matin Medeski and Wood? 'End of the World Party' is pretty awesome place to start.

Also, more in the neo-hippy vein, Garaj Mahal out of Chicago can get their groove on. Their studio album is a little phishy smelling at times, but still good. Less jazzy, but pretty good rockin jam band that can get their groove on.

Old timey groovy soul jazz? Everyone should have Blue Note Rare Grooves, the sampler album with John Patten, Stanley Turrentine, Jack McDuff, Jimmy McGriff, et al. From beginning to end, that one will have you in a soul drenched trance.

I would also recommend checking out some of the shows on www.KUVO.org, particularly the ones on after 10pm. (KUVO is the Denver jazz radio station, a great station.)

Have new way to try out an entire album - Spotify.com has come to the U.S. Playing with it tonight and found some albums not there, like some of Alison Krauss' and no Seasick Steve - but pretty amazing you can look around and listen to entire albums. For the free version you have to request an invite on the web site - I got mine after a couple days.

Local college stations sometimes get overlooked. One in my area (sometimes) plays a very eclectic mix. Caught on to Ray LaMontagne that way. Also Dan Akroyd has a syndicated blues hour on Sunday night. Lots of good new and old blues there.